The standing committee of Parliament has criticised the functioning of the development programme for de-notified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes.
There are nearly 1,500 nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes and 198 denotified tribes, comprising 15 crore Indians, according to the Renke Commission, 2008.
The Nomadic tribes maintain constant geographical mobility while semi-nomads are those who are on the move but return to fixed habitations once a year, mainly for occupational reasons.
Denotified Tribes (DNTs)
Denotified Tribes (DNTs), also known as Vimukta Jati, are the tribes that were listed originally under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 , as Criminal Tribes and "addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences."Once a tribe was "notified" as criminal, all its members were required to register with the local magistrate, failing which they would be charged with a "crime" under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The Criminal Tribes Act was repealed in 1952 and thus 'de-notified' the tribal communities.
This Act, however, was replaced by a series of Habitual Offenders Acts, that asked police to investigate a "suspect's" "criminal tendencies" and whether their occupation is "conducive to settled way of life."
The denotified tribes were reclassified as "habitual offenders" in 1959.
Government has so far launched following welfare schemes for the benefits to DNTs:
1) Dr. Ambedkar Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarship for DNTs Boys and Girls.
2) Nanaji Deshmukh Scheme of construction of Hostels for DNTs Boys and Girls.
The Department has approved a special scheme namely "Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNT Communities (SEED)" for welfare of this community having following four components:
1) Coaching of good quality for DNT candidates to enable them to appear in competitive examinations.
2) Health Insurance.
3) Livelihood initiative at community level.
4) Financial assistance for construction of houses.